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City of Steel
Central Park Encircled by water, the city that never sleeps has been forced to grow up instead of out, and the Canyons of Steel are steeper than ever, their metal spires a striking contrast against the seeming wilderness of the park. To the south sprawls the tangle of downtown Manhattan, the massive United Nations complex now rising high to rival the skyscraping Empire State building. The sloping glass wall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, repository of many of Earth's greatest art treasures, reflects the sunlit sky on the east side of the Park. Crowds throng the park no matter the weather, walking, hoverboarding, playing or simply relaxing. Wide open spaces combine with stretches of crowded pines and maples. The big apple. New York City. So nice, they named it twice. But perhaps after tonight, it'll have another name.. SHENANIGAN CITY?? Okay, probably not. But something evil is afoot here, that's for sure. News reports are scrambled in an instant, denziens of the sprawling metropolis rush the streets in a manic panic, large puff clouds of debris and dust roll through the area.. quickly covering everything in a thick film of dirt. <> buzzes one station, <<..with our Eye in the Sky, we're having difficulty finding the Empire State Building..>> screeches another; <> And so, the calls go out across the broadband channels to the EDC and Autobots.. no doubt intercepted and analyzed by Soundwave himself. "Me Grimlock love good fight!" It's New York's luck- good or bad, that the Dinobot commander was on the east coast! Restless, having gone several days without breaking something with a purple insignia on it, Grimlock rockets through the skies as fast as his anti-gravs can push him along, headed right for the source of the commotion! "HEY! Radio people!" Grimlock snarls into the broadband radio. "Tell me Grimlock where fight is so me Grimlock can do punchings!" Der Stukacon Banshee says, "Beginnink mein attack run" Amber MacKenzie is a very unlucky girl, in that she seems to be in the locale whenever something bad goes down. Be it Mars, Washington, the Ark, or New York City. Today, she's here to meet with a politician with information of interest to the EDC. Amber herself doubts he has anything worth while, and she was right. Leaving the man in disgust - damned politicians - she makes her way to Central Park for lunch before leaving the city. The broadcast warrants a weary sigh. As is the case whenever she feels threatened, she takes to cover, but herds people with her this time. Combat: Amber MacKenzie slips into the shadows and out of sight... On the Outskirts of New York City, there is a giant Green Autobot, looking across the bay towards Manhattan Island. His optics scan the city, officially he is on East Coast Patrol, but he was switched at the last moment, by his own order. He continues to study a specific portion of the City, as if scanning for something in particular. As the chaos breaks out, He takes off towards the Island, his strides getting longer and longer. Perceptor isn't much one for a fight, but when the alert had been sent out from New York City, Perceptor had been one of the few Autobots who hadn't been away or otherwise occupied with something of 'pressing urgency' than this. Of course, everyone has different ideas about what 'pressing urgency' constitutes. Nevertheless, innocent humans are at stake and he had happened to be nearby, obtaining some specimens from the harbor. Sighing at being interrupted in the middle of sample procurement--which, by the way is extremely--inconvenient and rather irksome, he headed toward the site of the disturbance. JU-87 awaits the command to attack at altitude, and when she gets it, she rolls 180 degrees and into the trademark vertical dive of her airframe. The sirens on her wings scream loudly, doing their job and terrifying the humans below before she releases a pair of bombs towards the base of one of the larger buildings - pulling up hard to fly -under- one of the bridges over he Hudson! <> Combat: JU-87 sets her defense level to Guarded. F-35B Lightning II is along primariily to observe and document and secondarly to... punch people in the face. This is a bit odd for her. So she has to wonder... why are they attacking New York, exactly? Resources? To break human morale? ...yes? Either way, the Autobots got here /fast/. Contrail flies defensvely, up high, but tries to take a gander at Grimlock in particular. Combat: F-35B Lightning II sets her defense level to Protected. Combat: Contrail analyzes Grimlock for weaknesses Banshee can exploit. Der Stukacon Banshee says, "Zo... Kommandant. Vhy, exactly, are ve here?" One of the 'lucky' citizens herded in with Amber quivers with fright, his knees shaking uncontrollably. "I was just.." he nervously rambles to no one in particular, "Just.. doing my job, and he showed up. It was him!" he whines, stirring the others into a panic as they crowd around. "He didn't even say anything.. Just.. doing my job. Steve.. oh my god, he killed Steve!" the man breaks down into a crying fit. With the news of a Dinobot and friends on the way, NYPD breaks to keep a perimeter on the situation.. but leaves the heavy hitting to the Autobots, as per the norm in these kinds of cases. The heavy dust cloud begins to subside, still clinging to abandoned vehicles.. some left running with doors open in the panic. Finally the Empire State Building is visible, somewhat. Somehow, someway.. it's been.. LOWERED? About a third of it's heighth has been sunken below the concrete jungle's sidewalk. Perched atop the somewhat sunken scraper, a very familiar form. One of.. Galvatron! No, that can't be Galvatron.. much too short. GASP! Then it must be, GALVATRON JR!! Surmising the damage already distributed throughout the city, the replica robot gives the ever faintest hint of a smirk. "What Megatron started, shall be finished this night." he spits, laughing manically while taking a pot-shot at a news helicopter that got too close. The rear stabilizing motor is blown to bits, as the aerial craft begins it's slow and winding descent to the streets below. "And soon the rest of North America will fall as well." Galvatron Jr, the great destroyer, has arrived!! Der Stukacon Banshee says, "...vot... ze... frak...?" Spinister says, "..." "Ooo, Septi-cons!" Grimlock says as he sees Contrail and Banshee circling around in the distance- but then there's that familiar ranting from afar. "Hnn. Galvatron." Grimlock says, and alters his course accordingly! Through mere coincidence, the dinobot's path takes him by the spiraling helicopter- and thus, Grimlock grabs at it, halting its flight! (Along with mangling a good chunk of the fuselage, but it's already a lost cause anyway). Grimlock leans back from the still-spinning blades, and then lands upon a handy rooftop- at which point he peels open the cockpit and sets the poor, terrified newscrew (still buckled into their seats!) on the 'saftey' of that rooftop. "Run 'way." Grimlock says, and turns to Galvatron! "Hnn. Me Grimlock no know what you doing, but me Grimlock gonna smash it!" and with that, Grimlock soars into the air, right at Galvatron! He's still carrying the remains of the chopper, and thus he swings the spinning rotor at the 'con like a giant buzzsaw! It's not until mid swing, however, Grimlock realizes something. "Wait. Why you so tiny?" Combat: Grimlock misses Galvatron Jr with his Inappropriate use of a news helicopter (Kick) attack! Amber MacKenzie first checks to see from what direction the danger is coming. She suspects Decepticons, but so far, she hasn't seem anything to prove it either way. Clouds of dust, screaming, the Empire State Building... She turns her gaze southward, or more precisely, southwesterly. Erk, that was an explosion she just heard. And as the smoke clears... *him* again. She shouts at people to shut up and stop panicking, to keep to cover from the air, and to move in an orderly fashion to the north. "And leave the bloody cars; Manhattan is going to be gridlocked. Use bicycles or motorcycles or your own two feet. Parents, carry your children. Able-bodied, help the elderly and handicapped. If you hear jets overhead, freeze under a tree or bush. Now, move!" She shoves Mr. Lucky in the appropriate direction. Der Stukacon Banshee says, "I... am not entirely sure what I am seeing." Hardhead lets out a curse as he watches the Skyscraper sink into the ground, on the fringes he scans the signature of Galvatron, Jr. He clinches his hands into fists as he continues to run towards the falling building. Contrail says, "Well. I suppose that is my job, isn't it?" Misfire says, "Oh, that happens to me...you need to stop after two of Dirge's Special Brews." Der Stukacon Banshee says, "Nein I... Contrail, swing over here. Are my optics busted or is that our overlord... miniture?" Perceptor's attention is immediately drawn toward Galvatron's familiar form. Yet, it could not be Galvatron. It was far too small. Had the Decepticons managed to clone their leader? If so, whatever for? He doesn't think Galvatron would personally approve of this. Or perhaps, this is merely an illusion of some sort...? But for what purpose? The scientist's prcoessors race at a zallion bytes per astrosecond as he ducks behind some buildings and transforms into his secondary form, which is more conducive to a more in-depth analysis. Combat: Perceptor sets his defense level to Guarded. Perceptor folds down into his microscope secondary form. Combat: Perceptor analyzes Galvatron Jr for weaknesses. Contrail says, "From a distance, it would appear to be so. I'll get a better look next pass." Der Stukacon Banshee says, "Ja, vill swing past myself..." Galvatron says, "Ugh, another tiny clone? Burn it if you are able." F-35B Lightning II wants a better look at the... miniature Galvatron. Maybe Soundwave just binged on energon again and built a new cassette? Now, the /real/ Galvatron (hopefully not another clone again) has entrusted her with a duty to be the Empire's eyes, so embracing that mandate, she tries to buzz right over the tiny warlord to get some high definition footage. Combat: F-35B Lightning II sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Contrail analyzes Galvatron Jr for weaknesses. Der Stukacon Banshee says, "I think Grimlock vill do a good enough job of zat, kommandant. I vill deal vith ze remains... shall I keep ze other Autobots off it zo zat Grimlock can dispose of it thoroughly?" Contrail says, "Autobots Grimlock, Hardhead, and perhaps others have responded. Priority rank for destruction of the clone, my lord?" JU-87 seems to be as equall knocked off-whack by Mini Galvatron as the Autobots, diving down lower and circling the area around Galvatron Jr - but keeping clear of Contrail's flight pth. She's clearly confused by what she's seeing, and a bit of a sitting target... <> Der Stukacon Banshee says, "Ja, orders, mein geliebter Oberanfuhrer? Prioritise targets - Autobots or... miniature?" Galvatron says, "On second thought... bring it back alive. I want to know where this one came from." Contrail says, "As you command, my lord." Galvatron says, "Cover and support her, Banshee." Der Stukacon Banshee says, "Jawohl!" Hovering backwards, Grimlock's intended 'Hulk Smash' with the copter misses his intended target.. leaving a nasty gouge in the Empire State Building itself. "You, insepid cretin. Are the Autobots so short of Magnus' and Primes that I must face a.. Dinobot?" Charging a minor shot from his smaller fusion cannon, Galvatron Jr lets go with the blast and takes to the skies. "Hear me, inhabitants of this germ infested cove. Today marks the beginning of the end for your primitive race." he decrees, giving another news helicopter a full frontal close up. "Starting here, in NEW CYBERTRON!" Combat: Galvatron Jr misses Grimlock with his Tis a Fleshwound! attack! -4 Amber MacKenzie is frustrated, not so unusual for her these days. There's that nasty git again wrecking New York City, and she can't do a damned thing about it. She quietly cheers Grimlock from her vantage point in the park, almost embedded in a thick hedge. Hardhead and Perceptor, she hasn't seen yet. Still, she has a lot of faith in Grimlock and fervently hopes he bites Mini-Galvatron in half like he did the original. Bringing out her camcorder, she zooms in on the action, setting it to record as Mini-Galv begins another Evil Monologue. They need information on that creature, even if it's as comparatively low-tech as her poor little recorder. Microscope is so absorbed in his musings about this strange miniaturized clone of Galvatron that he forgets he is at war with the Decepticons. <> He muses to himself, still attempting to get as many readings on the strange clone as possible. Combat: Microscope takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Contrail says, "Well, that's interesting... it claims to want to start a New Cybertron in New York. Mmm, maybe a ploy by some /other/ conquest-bent alien species? Like, oh... the Quintessons?" Der Stukacon Banshee says, "Nein, five hundred energon credits says it's someone on our side trying to gain favour" Grimlock finds, the hard way, that helicopters are not good melee weapons. But, at least today, it makes for a good shield! He puts the thing between himself and Galvatron Jr's blast- and then discards the flaming wreckage like so much litter. "Hnf. Am Septi-cons so, uh, SHORT? Haw haw haw!" Grimlock even goes so far as to point and laugh at Galvatron Jr, only to cut short. "No, seriously, me Grimlock want know where real bad guy is." he says, and almost casually swings a fist at the hovering tyrant, hoping to smash him into the ground! "Even though me Grimlock fight you anyway!" Combat: Grimlock misses Galvatron Jr with his PUNCH attack! Galvatron says, "It wants to start a New Cybertron? Ha! Ha ha! It and what army?" Hardhead continues his sprint towards the battle, he approaches the edges on the conflict, he pauses contemplating the wisdom of giving Grimlock any orders, deciding that would be an excerise in futility, he grunts as he pulls out his Shatterblasters, preparing to target The Clone. He steadies his rifles as he prepares to fire a small slug towards the Clone, the goal is to get the proper range. Combat: Hardhead strikes Galvatron Jr with his Range Finder! (Pistol) attack! Contrail says, "It's taking some decent hits from the Autobots so far. Well-made, at least..." Contrail says, "I'm going to try to talk to it. See if I can't sucker it into a trap or something. ...of course, if it can hear this channel, it won't go well for me, but at least, we'll have learned something!" Galvatron says, "It should be well-made, if it pretends to my name!" Contrail says, "Yes, it is slightly less offensive than it could be otherwise, my lord." F-35B Lightning II transforms into her robot mode and lands relatively near the Galvatron Jr... thing. She assumes a careful wary posture, her hands behinds her back. Her left lower arm is skeletal and brassy, lacking outer plating and completely not matching the rest of her colour scheme. It's better than nothing. Contrail smiles pleasantly and attempts to address Galvatron Jr, greeting, "Hail Galvatron! And where have you been, my lord? There is a whole muddy blue planet to lay to ruins and armies for you to lead." Combat: F-35B Lightning II sets her defense level to Guarded. In a transformation that is harder than it looks, Contrail rises up into robot mode. Combat: Contrail inspires Galvatron Jr with threatening and overbearing words! "So, what do you think of our new addition, Autobot?" Spinister stands behind Perceptor, weaponized Singe and Hairsplitter in hand. He nods in the general direction of the Galvatron Jr. mayhem. "Millions of years of war, and we still manage to surprise each other." He lifts Singe. "This, however, will come as no surprise." Perceptor should probably be honored- this is the most Spinister has talked to an Autobot...but he'll probably be too busy getting burned to death. Combat: Spinister sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Spinister misses Microscope with his Buuuuurn baby buuuurn! attack! Rising higher into the air, Galvatron Jr narrowly misses Grimlock's hastily swung fist. "Heh, lummox." Pushing his advantage, the fun-size tyrant is cut off when hit in the shoulder by a slug. Not any substantial damage, mind you, but enough to warrant his immediate and direct attention. Dropping like a rock, the purple-pants wannabe hits the cement with a loud crash that reverberates throughout the general vicinity. Still enveloped in a minor dust cloud, the form of Galvatron Jr strides from it and towards Hardhead. "Earth and all it's inhabitants, whether they be human filth or Autobot scum, shall KNEEL before the coming reclimation!" he shouts, charging headlong at the Headmaster. Balling up a fist, the 'clone' aims it squarely at the green Autobot's stomach region.. attempting to double him over. Meanwhile in the streets, a small regimen of Taxi cabs start crashing around the streets. One would instantly notice a large black box on the top of the vehicles, a beeping red light controlling them. Some even still have passengers welded shut inside them!! One such taxi careens dangerously close to the group of survivors Amber has herded. Pulling back from his encounter, Galvatron Jr looks to Contrail and scowls. "I am not your 'lord', merely his harbinger. Do not pretend to grovel at my feet, worm." he growls, then looks back at the wanton destruction. "If you wish, there are Autobot aplenty to VISCERATE!!" Combat: Galvatron Jr strikes Hardhead with his KNEEL BEFORE ZOD JR! (Kick) attack! Contrail says, "Straxus damn it, the thing is claiming to be a harbinger of... my lord?" "Gr! Hold still so me Grimlock crush!" And Grimlock follows Galvatron to the ground- and thankfully, too! Arial combat never was his forte. With a snarl, he transforms to his even killier dinosaur mode, and stomps forward! In the process, he happens to step upon the hood of a speeding robo-taxi. "Hnh? Where them come from? Where him Galvytron get time to do all this?!" he growls again into his radio- and then turns towards Galvatron himself, jaws opening to spit out a steady column of flame! *FWOOSH!* With a grunt and a growl, Grimlock changes into a robot T-rex! Watch out. Combat: Robot T-Rex! misses Galvatron Jr with his Fire Breath attack! Der Stukacon Banshee says, "Ja... it's claiming to be a harbinger of... you, Mein Kommandant." After much deilberation, Perceptor decides that taking the clone back to his lab for further inspection would be most advantageous in attempting to determine the intentions behind its creation. Or, that is...whatever is left of it by the end of this. Preferably its body would still be intact, at least. This depended upon how much damage it was capable of doing, however. He draws his concussion rifle from subspace, curious as to its reaction to a stun attack. However, he is just about to fire when Spinister comes up behind him and he is forced to transform quickly and dodge the Decepticons flamethrower, making a split-astrosecond decision to change targets and fire instead upon the more immediate concern. Perceptor reverts to his primary form. Combat: Perceptor sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Perceptor strikes Spinister with his Concussion Rifle attack! Combat: Spinister has been temporarily incapacitated. Galvatron says, "Of me? But I am already here!" Contrail says, "Banshee, are you equipped with any form of stunning weaponry?" Der Stukacon Banshee says, "Ja... I know." Der Stukacon Banshee says, "Nein, just bombs." Hardhead gets kicked straight in the gut, causing the larger Mech to double over and collapse to a knee, a scowl slowly begins to form on his face from the pain. As he slowly returns to his feet, his stomach armor is cracked and broken. He glares at the Harbinger. "Hmmmmm...." He pulls back his fist and swings it at the Decepticon clone's jaw. Combat: Hardhead strikes Galvatron Jr with his Haymaker! (Punch) attack! Galvatron says, "Ha! This clownish clone amuses me! If it wants to fight the Autobots, why should I not indulge it? Leave it to its fortune with my blessing, and if it remains friendly, use your ordnance on the Autobots. I am curious to see what becomes of it, now." Der Stukacon Banshee says, "Jawohl!" Contrail says, "As you wish, my lord." Contrail sighs, "If only I hadn't been hiding behind the door the day that they passed out null rays..." Amber MacKenzie stares calculatingly at the taxi that nearly sideswiped her. Shooing her frightened group on their way, she glances back, counting additional Black Box Taxi Service units. As one swerves, she spots the welding and swears softly to herself. Moving back towards the roads, she sighs and sprints after one of them. Stupid heroics. A graceful leap atop an abandoned car's hood gives her enough of a boost to follow up with another leap to land atop one of the runaway taxis. What to do now... She examines the ominous black box. Are the Decepticons dumb enough to put an off switch on these things? Or can she unhook it from its power source? The scientist is quicker than expected: Spinister won't underestimate him again. The Targetmaster slams into the wall behind him, electronic concussion pulses rattling through his circuitry. For the moment, Spinister is down, his systems forced into a hard reset to combat the effects of the attack. Singe and Hairsplitter, however, are a difference story. Singe transforms into robot mode, pointing accusingly at Perceptor. "So begins our battle, Autobot! The females of Earth will hail me as a conquering Alpha Male when I burn out your spark!" It's Hairsplitter the floating laser gun, however, that takes a shot. JU-87 seems to get her orders straight and loops around, gaining height. It looks, for a few seconds, to be a retreat - until inverting into a dive, screaming down towards Hardhead. The sirens on her wings scream loudly as she dives, though she's not directing or targeting the sound in any detail. It's her bombs that she's intending to use, her pilot hologram centring her target in the window between its feet. The bomb drops away and she pulls out hard, rolling to avoid a building and unable to check how much damage she's done! Combat: JU-87 sets her defense level to Aggressive. Combat: JU-87 strikes Hardhead with her 50kg GP Bombs attack! Contrail asks curiously, "And just whom do you harbinge?" This is a valid question! Galvatron's already here - he doesn't need any harbinging! Hoping to get Galvatron Jr to talk a bit, she attacks Grimlock to play along. Combat: Contrail misses Robot T-Rex! with her Acid Strike attack! About facing to use an abandoned vehicle as a shield against the tremendous stream of fire breath aimed his way, Galvatron Jr is caught unawares by Hardhead's suckerpuch! Stumbling backwards, the mini-me of meglomaniacs sneers viciously. Eyeing the payload dropped by Banshee, he ends up throwing himself back at Grimlock. Anti-Gravs carry him up the street, sending paper and dust up in their wake.. delivering Galvatron Jr right before Grimlock himself! "In a sense, this is comedic.. really." he muses, once again bring his fusion cannon to bear on the Dinobot. "Just as evolution was the signpost for the dinosaurs, so too am I your reminder that your time here has ended." Cackling madly, Galvatron Jr releases a special blast from the weapon.. turning to Contrail. "There are plenty of Autobots for you, Grimlock is mine!" The taxi cab Amber has so gracefully landed herself atop of zig-zags in no particular pattern, as if a mindless automation some lame-brained 80's writer thought of. As it veers close to impacting with a brick wall, one would remark that there's a very simple de-arming process. A red wire and a blue wire, but which one do you snip??? Combat: Galvatron Jr sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Galvatron Jr misses Robot T-Rex! with his Fusion Cannon: SPESHUL! attack! Contrail says, "Well. He's possessive about wanting to take Grimlock on alone." Both Contrail and Galvatron Jr's attacks *ping!* from Grimlock's heavy armor! He glances down, then takes a moment to rub at his chest with one of his small claws. "Hnn." Grimlock growls, and then looks back up at the battle. "Hnn. You may be tiny, but you still talk too much!" And thus, Grimlock springs into action- he barrels forwards, jaws snapping down at the miniscule megalomaniac! *SNAP!* Of course, an object in motion tends to stay in motion...and if Contrail's not careful, she might just get trampled underfoot as well, without so much as a 'scuse me!' "RAAAARGH! Combat: Robot T-Rex! sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Robot T-Rex! strikes Galvatron Jr with his Dino Rampage Area attack! -3 Combat: Robot T-Rex! misses Contrail with his Dino Rampage Area attack! -3 Hardhead has only a moment to enjoy the connection of his fist against the clone. A small grin forms on his face, before turning to his usual frown. The whistling of the bombs pierces Hardhead's audio receptors. He hesitates for a moment and decides to just hunker down. He throws his arms over his head as he crouches down. The bombs explode around him, destroying his arm and hands armor, his finger servos now show as the armor has been striped away. Slowly, he raises as the smoke and fire raises around him as he staggers forward, disorientated by the attack. "Nhhhh..." he grunts as he begins to scan the sky. He pulls out his Shatterblasters again, aiming at Banshee. He takes aim, and fires at Banshee! Combat: Hardhead misses JU-87 with his Come on Down! attack! -3 Taking advantage of the fact that he has succeeded in incapacitating Spinister, Perceptor ignores the Nebulans and runs off in the direction of the the object of interest, aka the Galvatron clone. Taking cover behind some partially demolished buildings, Perceptor transforms once again and takes aim at the miniature Decepticon leader with his photon cannon in an attempt to knock him out, targeting a weak point in his armor that had been determined by the scans the scientist had run before Spinister attacked him. Perceptor folds down into his microscope secondary form. Combat: Microscope strikes Galvatron Jr with his Laser Artillery attack! Combat: Microscope 's attack leaves him temporarily incapacitated! Amber MacKenzie has to hold onto the damned box itself as the wildly meandering taxi tries to fling her off. Oh joy, no off switch. She scowls at the wires and mutters something about using coneheads to do something obscene to the members of Decepticons' High Command. 50/50 chance of getting it right. If she fails, and the damned thing blows up, well, she can at least pass on the right color to cut. "I'm cutting the blue to disable these taxis," she broadcasts to her allies. "If I blow up, then cut the red instead." With that, she retrieves a Swiss army knife and cuts the blue wire. Just in time, as an errant swerve knocks her hand against the roof, and the knife goes flying. JU-87 yelps and growls a little, rolling to avoid the Shatterblaster fire, laughing to herself as she loops around, coming back on the attack - her sirens starting to scream louder and louder. The noise begins to focus in and tune itself, seeming to tickle and fire off a very certain part of the Cybertronian neural network - the little part at the back of the mind that says 'this isn't a good idea'. <> Combat: JU-87 misses Hardhead with her Horns of Jericho attack! Hairsplitter stands guard over a resetting Spinister while Singe notices...a familiar face riding a cab. "I uh...I gotta go... Hairsplitter, the Autobots are up to something in Central Park! I'll handle it!" Singe transforms and zooms in Amber's direction. Contrail observes that Galvatron Jr is touchy about Grimlock being /his/. Oh well, maybe Banshee won't mind some support. If Banshee also get offended, she supposes that she'll, uh, help Spinister with the nerd? And if Spinister gets offended, too, then Contrail can just hang back and observe. She takes to the air to potshot the tank. Flipping into a modified F-35B Lightning II, the sky is not the limit. Combat: F-35B Lightning II strikes Hardhead with her 25-mm GAU-12 cannon (Pistol) attack! Without looking to see if his shot hit or not, Galvatron Jr goes off on a mini-rampage. "Enough!" he squeels, "All of you are beneath my Lord Galvatron and his will." Whirling to face Grimlock, he continues. "I am his personal harbinger, you dull creature!! I shall not be bullied by the likes of.." *SNAP* *CRACKLE* *POP* Then Galvatron Jr is enveloped by a large mouth full of rows of serrated teeth. Today shall not be a pleasant day in the office. Aww, somebody has a case of the Mondays! :( Forearms held out to bear the brunt of the assault, the duplicate Decepticon barely manages to pry himself free from the 'Jaws of Death'. Somewhere, Carjack is filing for copyright infringment. Amber's ride instantly powers down, seems the engineers thought EVERYONE would cut the red wire. They musta been pretty dull in the processor department. Once he's pried himself free from the grasp, Galvatron Jr is bested by a blast in the back! The scientist's weapon eats into the outer plating of his armor, revealing even more circuitry.. some chunks of the stuff fall to the ground. Swirling around and sending himself into the air, Galvatron Jr howls madly and charges up a full blast from his fusion cannon. "Fall.. FALL!!" Combat: Galvatron Jr sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Galvatron Jr strikes Microscope with his FALL! thrice over attack! Der Stukacon Banshee says, "Danke!" The only thing true about Hardhead is he has more guts than brains. The tiny voice finds nothing to nudge, Hardhead only fears Duros' Estranged Wife, who is keeps constant tabs on, how else can he dodge service of the divorce. He straightens up and stares at the plane, waiting for it to get closer and closer. Finally, when Banshee gets in range, he fires a blast towards Banshee. The blast by Contrail hits the headmaster in his back, blowing off a small strip of his armor, leaving a trail of energon from the wound. Combat: Hardhead strikes JU-87 with his Modified Rifle Attack! (Laser) attack! Contrail says, "Banshee, Spinister - either of you want me to get a better look at one of your targets for you? Or do either of you need more energon?" Robot T-Rex! grrs! He spits out a purple chunk of Galvatron Jr, and then storms forwards! "Grr! Stupid tiny Galvatron!" he snarls, and then transforms into his robot mode! "Me Grimlock gonna make you even SHORTER! Haw haw!" And with that, Grimlock brings his energo-sword out with a *vwooom!* and swings it right at the purple robot's midsection, even as he's blazing away at a microscope! This...might be why one usually doesn't turn one's back on a dinobot. There's a flurry of moving parts, and Grimlock changes to his robot mode! Combat: Grimlock misses Galvatron Jr with his Energo Sword attack! Success! Amber isn't a welder, so she's not going to get those back doors open, but... could it be that the front doors are unlocked? She'll give it a try. If not, she'll have to do it the hard way, and can you believe how difficult it is to catch a taxi during rush hour in Manhattan? She's a healthy, fit young woman, but she really doesn't want to chase them all down. They drive like maniacs! Der Stukacon Banshee says, "Get a good luck at Hardhead, danke" Perceptor has managed a successful hit, but the energy it required was considerable, causing his servos to lock up as his systems attempted to shunt energon toward his spark chamber to keep him from falling into stasis lock. However, when the clone blasted him, the discharge from the weapon was partially absorbed into his fuel reserves, thanks to a prototype he had recently implemented and had been planning to test. He flew backward into a lone wall near the street, knocking it over. However, making use of the energy the cloned Decepticon had inadvertantly granted him, he transformed back to his root form and made haste toward the circuitry that had fallen out of the smallers-sized duplicated of Galvatron's back. Perceptor reverts to his primary form. Combat: Perceptor takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Spinister's optics kick on as his system reset completes. He's on his feet immediately, transforming into his attack copter mode and taking off, Hairsplitter joining him. The Mysterious One vanishes into the maze of buildings surrounding Central Park. Meanwhile, the flaming flamethrower manages to catch up with Amber, transforming onto the trunk of the cab, behind her. "Well....*hello.* Take public transit often?" Combat: Spinister takes a moment to shake off the effects of the last attack. F-35B Lightning II does a close overflight of Hardhead to pick up some footage of him to transmit to Banshee. She still keeps trying to think how to capture the tiny Galvatron clone. Maybe if they can trick one of the Autobots into stunning him? Hmm... Combat: F-35B Lightning II sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Contrail analyzes Hardhead for weaknesses Banshee can exploit. JU-87 curses as her sirens fail to have ay effect, yelping suddenly as the rifle slams into her wingtip, not doing much damage. What does the damage is the building she hits while compensating for the damage, the Stukacon snarling as she regains control. She turns and loops around, gaining altitude a moment before diving down towards Harhead. <> she growls, one of the four 250kg bombs dropping from under her belly! Combat: JU-87 sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: JU-87 misses Hardhead with her 250kg Penetrator Bombs attack! As Amber's call goes out, the citizens of New York City stand up and take charge. All around the metropolis, the Taxi cabs of dooooooooooom are either snipped of their blue wire or the control device is soundly blasted from the roof of the vehicle. Just normal joes, standing up to tyranny. So suffice to say, she won't have to chase them all down! Back at the scene in question, Grimlock's attack is easily sidestepped and batted down. "I grow tired of this silly game, come find me when Prime has the audacity to die." Grinning, Galvatron Jr suddenly takes to the skies.. and away? Strange. Some humans have taken notice of Singe, and crowd around Amber. "Leave her alone!" says one, "This is our city, scrapheap!" says another. Some even start tossing rotten tomatoes and garbage at him. Nearby though, a manhole starts to wobble.. then is thrown clear off it's hinges. Dozens of beady green optics stare from the depths. Combat: Galvatron Jr begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from F-35B Lightning II , JU-87 , and Attack Helicopter Hardhead is obvious to the Scan from Contrail as his tunnel vision keeps him locked on Banshee, he continues to reposition himself in order to maintain a line of sight to the Decepticon flier. He continually tracks the flier with his rifle, the servos in his hands grind as he grips the gun tighter, upon hearing the Death Threat, he tracks the Bomb, blasting it with his rifle so that it explores above him, the shells from the bomb clank against his head, making a dull thud sound. He continues to track the Decepticon as he fires with his Shatterblasters! Combat: Hardhead misses JU-87 with his Shatterblaster attack! -4 Amber MacKenzie has a very unpleasant surprise. She'd just disarmed this taxi at the risk of her life, when a familiar voice comes from behind her. She recognizes it instantly and closes her eyes in mingled exasperation and a certain degree of fear. Was that just one of the worst pick-up lines she's ever heard? Bloody hell. Eyes opening again, she slowly turns to face the Nebulan. "Hello, Singe," she answers wearily but politely. "Not usually, but my transportation is back there." She gestures in the general direction of... nothing in particular. She doesn't want him shooting up her bike. And then a real eye-opener as the citizens of the Big Apple appear from nowhere to assault the guy. Worry crosses Amber's face. The man is a weapon, and he could easily blow them away. "Er, maybe I'll catch you another time," she says hurriedly, hoping he'll leave peaceably. "Grr. Him -RUN- just like real Galvatron!" The dinocommander shakes a fist at the departing decepticon, and then glances around- Contrail and Banshee are barely registered as threats- at least, not with Hardhead and Perceptor to deal with them! Call it a training exercise. And so, Grimlock tromps across the street- pausing for a moment as he sees: "Amber?" he glances down (and down, and down) at the gal...and the Nebulan she's talking to. "Hn." Grimlock says, and brings out his double-barreled laser blaster, leveling the massive weapon at the nebulan. "Go." he growls. "Now." He doesn't fire, however- either out of mercy...or by his noticing of the glowy eyes in the sewer! "Wha?" Der Stukacon Banshee says, "I... am seeing strangeness." Der Stukacon Banshee says, "Nearly got hit by ein... Gott verdammt... manhole cover. I see multiple green eyes or optics belo." Perceptor doesn't notice the optics staring from below the manholes, his mind still pondering the purpose of this minimized Galvatron clone. He is quite busy examining the pieces of armor he's obtained from the replicate's back, but he notices Hardhead is having some trouble with Banshee and looks up momentarily to procure some cursory targeting data on the noisy Decepticon to send to his comrade. Combat: Perceptor takes extra time to assist Hardhead's next attack. Singe turns up the smolder to ELEVEN. "Such a cold shoulder, Ember? I thought we had something together..." He glares at the idiot humans, ruining his swagger. "In fact I thought that-" No more words. Grimlock here now. Singe just sort of goes wided eyed before flipping into a giant floating flamethrower, pointed at Amber. "GET AWAY FROM US!" To accent the demand, a very mysterious attack helicopter hovers behind Grimlock, two nasty looking fusion bombs locked on to the Dinobot. He'll walk away...but the humans? Welll... F-35B Lightning II considers, for a moment, taking a shot at the wee bitty Galvatron, but given that there are some armour pieces left in the street, she decides to just try to gather some of those for now. That will let her try to talk to wee bitty Galvatron under friendly pretenses later, if she does not shoot him in the back now. She lands and tries to gather up some of those armour chunks. In a transformation that is harder than it looks, Contrail rises up into robot mode. Combat: Contrail sets her defense level to Neutral. Combat: Contrail takes extra time to steady herself. Pass JU-87 pauses and seems to ignore Hardhead for a moment, cycling around the 'blown' manhole cover for a good twenty seconds or so before she decides she's got enough footage, turning around to face her target again. Her wing guns chatter loudly, stitching two perfect lines of dirt puffs down the middle of the Manhattan street. <> she snarls, quite clearly pissed off at him. It'll be just her luck if the aimed siren and bomb miss, but her ill-aimed strafing run hits... Combat: JU-87 misses Hardhead with her Strafing Run (Laser) attack! As Galvatron Jr floats off to safety, where that would be is anyone's guess, the action on the streets grows more and more intense. Not relenting in their tomato-ing or garbag-ing, the fine citizens of New York do pause momentarily when Grimlock stares the Nebulon down. "Hey, it's Grimlock!" cheers one, "I knew we shoulda elected him president!" shouts another. From the manhole pours out.. Alligatorcons? Shoddy in construction, these lame Swarm knockoffs make up for their piecemeal construction by sheer numbers alone. Instantly they start to envelop anything and everything put in their path. Most of the humans scurry off, as the Alligatorcons quickly surround the taxi cab and take tiny snaps at Amber. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" A hungry hungry horde of Alligatorcons has arrived!! Combat: Hungry Horde of Alligatorcons strikes Hardhead with his Beset on All Sides! Area attack! Combat: That attack has slowed Hardhead, making him less efficient. Combat: Hungry Horde of Alligatorcons strikes Grimlock with his Beset on All Sides! Area attack! Combat: That attack has slowed Grimlock, making him less efficient. Combat: Hungry Horde of Alligatorcons misses Contrail with his Beset on All Sides! Area attack! Combat: Hungry Horde of Alligatorcons misses Perceptor with his Beset on All Sides! Area attack! Der Stukacon Banshee says, "Sheiss!" Spinister says, "..." Der Stukacon Banshee says, "Look... at zem all..." Contrail says, "...slagging Alligatorcons." "Grr!" As Singe transforms, Grimlock takes a step forward- aiming to place one massive foot between the targetmaster and Amber! But then, there's the matter of all those Alligatorcons coming out of nowhere! "Whuh?" Grimlock growls, and is beset by the creatures- though they're barely able to scratch his armor. "RARGH!" Grimlock grabs one, then uses it as a bludgeon to smash at several of the others, "Where you come from?! Me Grimlock confused! But that okay, 'cuz me crush first and ask questions later!" There's a pause, however, in the mayhem, and Grim looks over his shoulder at Amber. "You puny human okay?" he asks. Combat: Grimlock strikes Hungry Horde of Alligatorcons with his Dino Crush attack! -3 Hardhead receives the targeting data from Perceptor and clinches his fists, as that means Galvatron Jr is no longer in play. He hangs his head for a moment as another defeat is added to his record, the sound of the whooshing laser fire forces him to focus on the tasks at hand. He drops down into his tank mode in order to allow the lasers to harmless ping off his armor. Inside Hardhead, Duros frantically attempts to make use of the data from Perceptor, his hands gliding over the internal controls as he takes manual control of the side mounted cannon, he raises...tracking Banshee, waiting for the all too familiar locking tone. Just moments before he fires, his entire chassis is rocked. "The *slag*..." The Tank emits a grunt as he cannon cycles, a short fused round is now loaded in the chamber, he prepares to fire into the horde of Alligatorcons. Combat: Cybertronian Tank strikes Hungry Horde of Alligatorcons with his Scare them away with annoying sound! attack! Amber MacKenzie *was* being nice! Nicer than Singe deserved for such a cheap attempt. She's relieved as Grimlock arrives, but not for long. Freezing in place, she stares down the barrel of the floating flamethrower, and not for the first time. "This just isn't the right time or place," she coaxes winningly while clenching her stomach to keep from getting sick at having to suck up to the guy. All that is forgotten as she's sudden up to her a** in alligatorcons! She shrieks in startled fear and stands perfectly still on the very center of the taxi roof, desperately hoping that they're drawn by movement, and without movement, they'll move on. Perceptor begins leaving the scene, all too eager to begin running his analyses on the bits of armor he has just obtained. Perhaps this had been worth interrupting his original sample procurement process. Or perhaps he's forgotten about that altogether. At any rate, it can wait. He runs off eagerly, absently dodging the poorly constructed Alligatorcons. If he hadn't been so excited about the clone specimen, he probably would have stopped to take notice of and sample one of them, as well. But no, he rushes off, paying them almost no heed at all. Combat: Perceptor begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Contrail, JU-87 , and Attack Helicopter Contrail says, "...hmm, let's try to capture one of these Alligatorcons for Engineering to examine." There's a moment of tense stand off with Grimlock, but everything changes when the gatorcons flood the scene...Singe rejoins Spinister and the helicopter gains altitude, joining his fellow Decepticons in the sky. <> Singe spots the Stukacon. "<> Contrail manages to jump out of the way of the shoddy Alligatorcons and gets a GREAT idea. She tries to jump on one of them to wrestle it. You just kind of ride the back and clamp the jaws shut with your hands, right? (This is not actually a great idea.) Combat: Contrail strikes Hungry Horde of Alligatorcons with her Steve Irwin Would Disapprove attack! Combat: Hungry Horde of Alligatorcons falls to the ground, unconscious. Around the taxi, Grimlock easily swats aside most of the Alligatorcons with ease. The others, true to Amber's logic, kind of stand there blankly when she stops moving. Further up in the streets, Hardhead literally decimates most of the horrid mechanical populace. What remains of the others, attempt to strike again.. mindless as they are. Only this time, they focus all their effort on Grimlock! Except they get cut short by Contrail, who manages to take out the main unit. Yeah, that's it. Okay. The main unit Alligatortron controlled the others. The rest of the creations simply power down, one even having gotten onto the cab and about to bump into Amber. His dumb expression frozen on his misshapen robot aligator snout. "I'm fine, Grimlock," Amber replies tonelessly and somewhat belatedly as she stares into the eyes - optics? - of the Alligatorcon. She really feels like she should faint or something, but she's too much in shock to take the trouble. What big teeth you have, Grandma. She drops to a sitting position on the cab top, still staring at Grandma. Contrail says, "...uh. I guess I deactivated the Alligatorcons? Maybe?" Cybertronian Tank reverts back to his robot mode as he surveys the bodies of the Alligatorcons. "Hmmm...this feels familiar." He bends over to study one of the drones. "Like I read about this..." The tank almost seems to pull a wheelie as the front treads lift off the ground. The fancy transforming sound rings out as the tank quickly folds out into a robot. For a brief moment, it appears a humanoid form leaped out of the cockpit and became the Robot's head. The transforming sound finishes and now stands Hardhead. "Raar!" Grimlock says- even as the Alligatorcons stop moving, Grimlock sets about bashing and smashing them further for a few more moments before he notices they're not fighting back. Grimlock pauses, wiring hanging from his knuckles, and gives a 'hm.' "Wait, that it? Booooring." he shrugs, then points at Hardhead. "You! Keep eye on things. Me Grimlock gonna go see if there more stuff to break." he tromps off for a moment, then pauses. "Uh. Me Grimlock mean 'patrol for bad guys. Contrail says, "...Banshee? Spinister? Someone? Could you help me tie this Alligatorcon to my hood? Not sure how I'm going to get it back otherwise."